Trump urges Russia to rein in Syrian ally

May 11, 2017 1:29 am

By AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE, Washington, United States, May 10 – President Donald Trump brushed aside concerns over his wooing of Russia on Wednesday and laid on a White House welcome for Moscow’s top diplomat to seek help to end the war in Syria.

As Washington reeled at the dismissal of FBI chief James Comey, who had been probing Russia’s alleged interference in the US election, a beaming Trump met Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Lavrov’s American counterpart Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has admitted that US-Russian relations are at their lowest ebb since the Cold War and that there is almost no trust left.

Diplomats are working to thaw ties by resolving small issues, which officials told AFP includes day-to-day battles such as US complaints that its officials posted to Russia are subjected to low level covert harassment.

But Trump remains hopeful that Putin can be convinced to help end the Syrian civil war by reining in Russia’s ally President Bashar al-Assad and his other key foreign backer — Iran.

Trump “emphasized his desire to build a better relationship between the United States and Russia,” the White House said.

Lavrov is the highest-ranking Russian official to visit Washington since Trump came to power in January, and earned a rare invitation to the Oval Office for a head-to-head.

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